China's Leap into the Information Age

Innovation and Organization in the Computer Industry

Qiwen Lu

China's Leap into the Information Age

Innovation and Organization in the Computer Industry

Qiwen Lu

Description

This book takes an inside look at the development of four large Chinese domestic computer enterprises from their inception to their establishment as multi-billion dollar businesses. It shows how and why indigenous Chinese high-tech firms gained technology capabilities and modern marketing know-how, and how they were able to compete directly with Western multinationals.

China's Leap into the Information Age

Innovation and Organization in the Computer Industry

Qiwen Lu

Table of Contents

IntroductionOrganizational barriers to technological innovation under central planningThe development of computer technology and the IT industry in China prior to the reformReform of China's national science and technology system and the rise of new science and technology enterprisesEnterprise governance and mode of technology learning: an analytical frameworkChapter 1: Stone Group Co.: Turning technological potential into commercial success under a new organizational framework Founding and early history of StoneNew institutional structure of enterprise governanceIndigenous innovation, learning, and capability acquisition: progressive integration of R&D, marketing, and manufacturingFrom a new high-tech venture to an industrial going concernConcluding remarksChapter 2: Legend Group Co.: A model of 'one academy, two systems' Early historyTechnological resources and managerial autonomy: relations with the Institute of Computing TechnologyTechnology commercialization and market expansionInternationalization and industrializationContinual expansionConcluding remarksChapter 3: Founder Group Co.: The changing organization of innovation The organization of large-scale industrial R&D under central planningEntry of FounderRelations with the universityWellspring of innovation: indigenous capability and new organizational structureRoad to big businessConcluding remarksChapter 4: China Great Wall Computer Co.:Transforming the state-run computer industry Mandarins becoming entrepreneurs: a new approach to organizing the state-run computer industryBuilding integrated organizational capabilitiesCorporate renewal through strategic alliancesCorporatizationConcluding remarksChapter 5: A New Mode of Technology Learning Coupling between technology commercializationand non-governmentalizationNew institutional structure of enterprise governanceTrajectory of learning: progressive integration of R&D, marketing, and manufacturing capabilitiesEvolving structure of corporate governanceConcluding remarks

China's Leap into the Information Age

Innovation and Organization in the Computer Industry

Qiwen Lu

Author Information

Qiwen Lu was Assistant Professor of Asian Business at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainbleau, France. He died of liver cancer in August 1999, just after submitting the completed manuscript of this book to the publisher. His research, some of which formed the basis for his Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard University, focused on the role of innovative business organizations in China's rapid economic growth. He did much of the fieldwork for this book as a research associate at the Center for Industrial Competitiveness at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Besides his Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, he held both engineering and law degrees from Chinese universities. He also worked for a number of years in China as a research scientist and R&D project manager in a national industrial laboratory and as a legal consultant for several high-tech firms.